A fellow journalist who spoke with a TikTok press rep told me company officials were opening my emails asking for comment in horror. You said you always asked to comment on documentation or new features you didn’t even know existed yet. And I’m currently working on a more difficult story about the platform. contact me for my Signal number. )
But these grim tales don’t focus on the company’s handing over data to Chinese authorities, or the security risks associated with its connections with the Chinese state. Like any journalist, I’m selfish and want to destroy stories like that, so I want to find that connection. bottom. I have spoken to many TikTok employees, past and present, in search of such connections. But i haven’t found it.
You can’t say that the link doesn’t exist. But I can say that I and other talented journalists are chipping away at TikTok’s structure.we now know the company has spied on a journalist and have workplace harassment issuesTikTok’s finances are leaked all the time. But none of us have found a smoking gun. And I don’t think my fellow reporters are trying to find it out more intently than I am.
We are in a strange position politically. Donald Trump’s legacy lives on in the way we have our own personal fiction. Among those fictions: TikTok is a proven risk.TikTok is a puppet of the Chinese state. . TikTok is a Trojan horse waiting for Chinese President Xi Jinping to overthrow the West.
playing cards launched a series of online advertisements In 2020, it says, “TikTok is spying on you.” It’s a sentiment echoed by other politicians, including Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, who are concerned about TikTok’s ties to China.
None of this is true. at least as far as i know. But when you hear politicians on both sides of the aisle talking about it, it’s a verifiable fact.
These U.S. politicians have taken a strange Chinese approach: instead of allowing free enterprise from corporations that have shown willingness to strive to answer their concerns, they should seek the interests of harmonization. We are cracking down and censoring for that. Good faith efforts to address any issues encountered.
There will likely be a lot of enthusiasm and not much light from Thursday’s congressional hearings.From TikTok, there will be the usual protests that it has no ties to the Chinese government, and that TikTok’s response isn’t good enough. There is the usual outrage from politicians that there is no 150 million Americans Since you’re using the app now, you should hope that TikTok’s answer will suffice.
